On the Properties of Voting Systems

The article focuses on the problem of choosing the 'best' voting procedure for making collective decisions. The procedures discussed are simple majority rule, Borda count, approval voting, and maximin method. The first three have been axiomatized while the maximin method has not yet been given an axiomatic characterization. The properties, in terms of which the goodness of the procedures is assessed, are dictatorship, consistency, path independence, weak axiom of revealed preference, Pareto optimality, and manipulability. It turns out that the picture emerging from the comparison of the procedures in terms of these properties is most favorable to the approval voting.     

An assessment of voting system simulations

In applying the results of the social choice theory to voting procedures, the question arises as to how often the various anomalies can be expected to occur. Computer simulations and probability modelling are common approaches to address this problem. This article is an attempt to find out the robustness of the so-called impartial culture assumption. For this purpose first a major perturbation of the impartial culture assumption is considered and, thereafter, we focus on a few minor modifications of the assumption.     

Adolescents' Achievement Strategies, School Adjustment, and Externalizing and Internalizing Problem Behaviors

The present study investigated the relationships between the achievement strategies adolescents deploy in a school context, and their self-esteem, school adjustment, and internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors. A total of 1185 14-to-15-year-old adolescents filled in the Strategy and Attribution Questionnaire (SAQ), Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale, and scales measuring school adjustment, depression and externalizing problem behavior. The adolescents' parents were also asked to evaluate their children's achievement strategies, school adjustment and, externalizing problem behavior. The results revealed that low self-esteem was associated with adolescents' use of maladaptive achievement strategies which, in turn, was associated with their maladjustment at school, and internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors. Moreover, the association between adolescents' maladaptive strategies and their externalizing problem behavior was partly mediated via their school adjustment. The results suggest that the achievement strategies adolescents deploy are reflected not only in their school adjustment but also in their overall problem behavior.     

A priori power measures and the institutions of the European Union

Abstract. The a priori voting powers of member countries in the council of ministers of the European Union have been discussed in the literature mainly from the view–point of Banzhaf and Shapley–Shubik indices. This paper discusses — in the light of these and other more recent (Colomer's, Holler's as well as Deegan and Packel's) power indices — the interaction of the council ministers and the European Parliament (EP) under the assumption that the consent of both bodies is needed to carry a motion or piece of union–wide legislation. Moreover, the double–majority principle is discussed from the view–point of voting power distribution. Finally we consider the voting power distribution in a three–chamber system consisting of Commission, Council and EP.     

On Riker's Theory of Political Succession

Riker's view of the dynamical forces of political systems singles out disequilibrium, strategic voting and agenda-manipulation as the pervasive features determining the nature of political change. We shall investigate these characteristics in some detail and thereafter evaluate the methodological aspects of Riker's theory. Some observations on the general relevance of the equilibrium analysis of multi-dimensional spatial voting models for the study of political institutions are also made.